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Sunday, June 3, 2012

2013 Sasquatch Award Nominees Announced

I first heard about the Sasquatch Award this past school year when my son had the opportunity to earn a special pizza party if he read, and passed an AR test for, each book nominated for the award. These are all middle grade books targeted for grades three through six. There were a couple titles in the mix that he had no interest in reading so he didn't complete the challenge. Maybe he would have tried harder if the prize had been more enticing? Maybe this year I will put up my own prize if he finishes. Maybe this year I will read them right along with him! This is such a great way to introduce kids to a wider variety of books, and who knows, they might actually love a few of them.

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Okay. I asked my son what would motivate him to read all the Sasquatch award nominees and he said $100. I will have to run this one by my husband.

"This
committee meets in the early spring, in Ellensburg. We each bring our pile of
book nominations with us. We solicit nominations from teachers, students, a few
book shop owners and other librarians. We constantly try to focus on titles that
children like and want to read while continually discussing the merits of
individual titles in a series such as Redwall, American Girl, etc.

The
actual process is a round robin in which each member presents their best title.
We do this about three times around or until everyone feels that have presented
the titles that have been most favored in their region. At this point we start
discussing various titles, balance of male and female focus, ethnic diversity,
and a variety of reading levels ranging from the earliest chapter book reader on
up. One year we decided to include one picture book for older students (Passage
to Freedom) as well as an autobiographical title (Basher Five-Two). I guess we
then trust our instincts and negotiate the final list."

$100....I laughed out loud! That's funny. Because I write YA, I read a lot of it. And the nice thing is that my son and I can share books and discuss them. Now, my younger boys are still enjoying Wimpy Kid books :/

I think we had the same challenge at our school ... maybe it's state wide? I don't remember if my daughter finished it or not. I haven't read any of these on the list, but I do love Linda Sue Park and Gary Paulsen.

About Me

I am a SAHM to three young kids. I started this blog to keep track of my progress on writing for children, but have expanded it to include anything created by me - photography, scrapbooks, art made with my kids, and knitted or crocheted projects. Therefore I have dubbed myself a Creative-in-Training. Looking forward to meeting you!